This was such a time waster! Frustrated, she started pacing again. If she’d been there for Marcia, then her client would have come to her for help with Teddy, and she wouldn’t be going through this now. In the first months of her practice, Annie had made it a point to be there for all her clients, even though most couldn’t pay her. Divorcing Jean-Pierre had been the reason.
She’d been like Marcia during the proceedings—young, without money, and needing someone to help her. Because her low-cost legal aid had not been top quality, she’d ended up having to pay Jean-Pierre alimony for cheating on her. The extreme unfairness was why she’d worked so hard to become a lawyer, so people who were working-class and needy like she’d been would have some place to go when someone took advantage of them. She’d believed in what she wanted to do so much that she’d turned down invitations to join firms that took very few pro bono cases, and then only highprofile ones. The very thought of working for such firms had made her sick. So she’d set up her own law practice and went about trying to achieve her dreams. She could have it all, she thought. A profession she loved, and someday her baby.
She’d been wrong.
In the beginning she’d taken on mostly indigent clients. As her reputation for winning tough cases grew, more paying clients sought her out, and she’d stopped having to worry about paying her bills every month. That had been nice—too nice. She’d started saving for expanding her office and for her baby-tobe. Unfortunately, the more time the paying clients demanded, the more she’d had to let her pro bono cases slip. In working toward her dream of having a baby, she’d forgotten what was important—people like Marcia and Teddy.
And that was why she wanted Teddy.
Plopping back down on the couch and leaning over, she picked up Gallagher’s gold watch and studied its gleaming beauty. West’s reported charisma enabled him to convince people to hand over their hard-earned cash in exchange for listening to his blarney, and he bought gold watches and toy cars. What a waste compared to what she wanted money for. She wished she could understand why all her education and hard work couldn’t get her the money his ideas, sparkle and gift of gab did. Life was so perversely lopsided sometimes.
“You aren’t thinking of running off with that, are you?” Gallagher came through the doorway, Teddy snuggling against his broad shoulder.
He shouldn’t tempt her, Annie thought—she still had her electric bill to pay. “No,” she said, putting it back. “I was just thinking how strange it is you trust me with your valuables, but not with Teddy.”
“The watch can be replaced. Kids can’t.” She heard the warning behind his lightly stated words. He felt a responsibility toward Teddy, too, he seemed to be saying, and he was ready for a battle. Well, that was fine with her. She’d failed Marcia once. This time she was going to remember why she’d become a lawyer. This time she was coming through for her client.
Gallagher shifted Teddy and rearranged the towel covering his shoulder and his jet black cotton shirt. Her eyes narrowed. That was not the shirt he’d had on when he’d left the room. And his hair was wet along his forehead, and his mouth was twisting as if he’d just sucked on a lemon-or as if he’d tasted something detestable while he’d been changing diapers.
All of a sudden, despite the seriousness of the situation, she began to laugh. “He christened you, didn’t he?”
“I have no idea what you are talking about,” Gallagher said. He looked down at Teddy. “When did you teach the lady baby babble, Ted?”
“C’mon, Mr. Gallagher, when you groaned, don’t think for one minute I fell for that pin story. You were changing diapers, and the little guy squirted you. I’m sure you didn’t even see it coming—especially not after it hit you in the eyes.” She licked her lips to keep from laughing and sat down.
Gallagher’s mouth twisted as though he were trying not to smile. “You can try humor to persuade me if you want, but what it all boils down to, Ms. Robicheaux, is that I consider the matter of Teddy settled.” His midnight-blue eyes spoke volumes as he walked toward the couch and came to a stop in front of her. “I’m keeping the baby, and I need to know what I have to do to get you out of my life.”
“You say that now,” Annie said, “but what are you going to do if Teddy wakes up in the middle of the night crying? Or suddenly develops a bad diaper rash? Or can’t keep down a bottle of milk?”
West remembered he was arguing with a pro, which was bad, considering he wasn’t at all certain of his own skill in taking care of Teddy. Sitting, trying not to let a surge of anxiety show on his face, he plopped the baby down on the couch between him and Annie, keeping one hand near Teddy’s shoulder in case he made any sudden moves. What would he do if something really bad happened? He’d barely gotten through the diaper change.
West gazed speculatively at Annie. If only he weren’t so worried she would turn the kid over to foster care as soon as she got her shell-pink-tipped fingers on him, he’d give the baby to her and save himself a lot of trouble. But heck, what was he worried about? Convincing people how they should be thinking was his business. He’d have to hang it up if he couldn’t convince Annie Robicheaux he had Daddy of the Year potential.
“If any of those things happen to Teddy,” he said carefully, “I’ll do the same thing you would do.” What that was, he didn’t know. He’d taken care of his share of babies for the Drews, his foster parents for about a year, but that had been fourteen years ago…. What did new parents do?
Books. There had to be books on taking care of Junior.
Even though Gallagher kept one hand resting on Teddy, having a baby near the edge of the sofa made Annie nervous. Wanting a barrier to prevent Teddy from taking an accidental dive off the sofa, she looked around.
She found her solution in a straight-backed chair in the adjoining room and, rising, she went for it. Pushing the coffee table out of the way, she pulled the chair up to form a fence.
“There. That’s better, isn’t it, West?” She raised her lashes and all he saw were her eyes. He got the intense feeling he was being sucked into one of those bottomless black holes—only this one was hazel.
“I can call you West, can’t I?” she asked.
“No. Teddy was fine without the chair. I’m watching him.”
“Human beings are fallible, West.”
“Tell me about it,” he agreed, eyeing her as she took a long, slim pillow and placed it between the chair and the baby. “Some are even paranoid.” And controlling.
“Cautious.” She sat. “Accidents happen. Marcia told me Teddy’s six months old. He can roll over, but he’s just learning to sit up. Did you know that?”
“Of course not. How would I know that?”
“Exactly.”
“Look, Annie—I can call you Annie, can’t I?”
“No.”
He grinned. “You have no idea how pleasant a diversion you’ve been, but I think it’s time you went home.”
“The baby,” she said through gritted teeth, her patience strained. “I cannot believe you are actually considering keeping him. How are you going to handle this? Teddy is going to need full-time care, supplies, formula, and a whole bunch of other things.”
“I know what a baby needs,” West told her, reaching over to pat Teddy’s stomach absently. “He needs his mother. You’re Marcia’s lawyer. Do you have any idea where she might have gone?”
Annie barely heard his question. Her gaze lingered on the width of Gallagher’s hand, and on how long his fingers were. Feeling her heart throbbing against her ribs, she swallowed nervously. She couldn’t be attracted to a dream chaser—couldn’t afford the mental anguish that could only come of it, and she dang well knew it. She had to win her point and get Teddy out of here.
“Annie?” he prompted. “Teddy’s mother?”
“I can’t tell you anything.” She did have Marcia’s address, but she couldn’t tell him without breaking Marcia’s lawyer-client confidence. She’d call as soon as West let her leave with Teddy, bu
t she had a feeling Marcia wouldn’t leave her baby with someone only to go back to her own place. What would be the point?
From somewhere a clock chimed nine, and Annie bristled. Having worked a full twelve-hour day before she’d gone home and found the notes, she wished now only to take Teddy back to her apartment and curl up with him on her bed. How much longer was Gallagher going to let this go on?
“Look, West, this isn’t a lark. There’s no one to help you when Teddy starts acting like a real baby instead of a cute television ad. I’ve seen the publicity promos on your seminar. You’re a bachelor—”
“Good thing, too. I’d hate having to explain you and Teddy to a wife.” His gaze swept over her with great appreciation and mild amusement. If he weren’t so irritated with the entire situation, he might have asked her out. But things as they were.
“Try to pay attention now, West,” she said sternly. “You have to work—”
“So do you.”
“But I’m a woman,” she said from between gritted teeth. “Women know the differences between a baby’s cries. We know the words to say when they’re sick. We have instincts where babies are concerned.”
“You don’t have to tell me about females,” he said agreeably. His grin was friendly, open and sexy, all at the same time. “I know all about them. They’re cuddly and soft. They turn to men when they’re lonely and afraid, and when they want to be comforted and held.”
Annie’s eyes took in Gallagher’s muscular arms and her stomach fluttered. It had been so long since she’d turned to a man for anything. Curling up in West’s arms right now and letting him just hold her would be so nice….
She clenched her fingernails into her palms to get a grip on herself. What was she thinking?
“Speaking of holding,” West added, “I can cuddle real well. I’ve never had any complaints from any babies.” He met her eyes, his own still twinkling. “Or from women, either.”
Her head cocking, she flashed her eyes at him. “Do you have an answer for everything?”
“No.” West glanced down at the baby, regret falling over his rugged features. “I don’t have an answer for why some people go off and leave their innocent kids behind. I don’t have any idea of what to do about the problem, either. All I know is that for some reason, I was given Teddy here to take care of.” He gazed up at her. “And I know I can’t test fate by letting him go until Marcia comes. You do believe in fate, don’t you, Annie? That maybe we were all brought together here tonight to learn something about ourselves?”
His voice and his eyes swept over her now, imploring her to understand his feelings, drawing her in, and she watched him for a full minute, caught up in the spell his warm voice was weaving over her. A man like West who could feel so deeply would never allow Teddy to come to any harm. Maybe she ought to leave the baby here. What could it hurt?
“Go home, get some rest,” he urged in a low, soothing voice, echoing her own thoughts. “You can trust me, Annie. I’m not just a dream chaser.” His almost hypnotic, blue-eyed gaze lowered to look at Teddy.
Was he aware, Annie wondered, that whenever he watched Teddy, his normally empty eyes softened and warmed to an intensity that made her shiver? Marcia was right. West Gallagher was a spell weaver who could make you believe in him with all your heart….
Charisma! Annie jerked up straight. That damned charisma! “You’re trying to talk me into leaving,” she said.
“It almost worked, too, didn’t it?”
Rising from the sofa, Annie strode across the room and back, furious. She had almost fallen under his spell. No wonder West was so popular on the lecture circuit. He was a master at manipulation. Her ex could take lessons from him!
“But it didn’t work, West. I’m not going anywhere until you agree to give me Teddy! You won’t be able to take care of him as well as I can.”
“Why? Because you’re a woman and I’m a man?” Teddy gave a gentle cry, and Gallagher reached down to pick him up. The child was all baby blue against the shoulder of the big man’s black shirt as Gallagher gently rocked him. “Be my guest and stick around a while longer. See how good a parent a man can be.”
He wanted her to stay longer? Annie changed direction abruptly. “Even allowing you your point—that a man can be a good parent—a woman is always better. Basic instinct. I’d definitely be a better parent than you.”
“I’ll bet you’re wrong,” he said.
She stopped short. Always a quick thinker, she could immediately see the usefulness of what to him was probably only an offhand, meaningless utterance.
“You’re on,” she said before she could consider the ramifications and change her mind. “I’ll take that bet. Monday’s the Fourth of July—a federal holiday. Courts are closed. So I’ll bet you by Monday evening, I’ll have proven to you how much more Teddy prefers a female to a male taking care of him, so well that you’ll let me take Teddy home and promise to forget about the two of us. If you aren’t absolutely convinced, I’ll leave the care of him to you and go graciously.”
Even though she offered the last, she had no intention of leaving Teddy here with him at all. She didn’t trust Gallagher to care for the child correctly for even a week. Marcia had obviously only brought her son here because she felt she had nowhere else to turn. But she’d reached out once more with her notes to Annie, and Annie believed the woman wouldn’t have done that if she hadn’t harbored a hope that her lawyer would come get her son.
Annie took a deep breath of determination. She’d failed Marcia once by not being there for her. She wasn’t about to fail her twice.
What a royal pain the lady lawyer had turned out to be. West sat where he was, trying not to eye her long legs at the same time he considered her challenge. He thought he was good at maneuvering people, but Annie was a pro. He wanted to throw her out, but he had a feeling that would only compound his problems. If she went straight to social services, Teddy would no doubt be in foster care by midnight.
But his compassion wasn’t the only reason he couldn’t hand Teddy over to her. By producing a book enticing people to run after their dreams, he’d inadvertently gotten Marcia to run away from her responsibility. He figured he owed it to the clerk to take care of her kid for at least a few days and give her the chance to come to her senses.
Then there was the fact that Annie was a lawyer. Even if he gave Teddy to her, she might be ethically bound to call the police anyway after a couple days and tell them everything. Not only would Teddy wind up in foster care, West himself would have to explain to authorities why some strange woman had left a baby on his doorstep. How could he explain something he didn’t understand himself?
Even if he could pull that off, he doubted they’d be pleased he hadn’t called the police immediately to report the abandoned baby. It would make him look suspicious as hell. And if the story leaked to the papers…He’d made it big motivating people, and he didn’t want those same people to think he might be guilty of something and as a result feel like they’d been made fools of for believing in him. He also didn’t want to lose his work. It was all he had.
And finally—he was worried about taking care of Teddy by himself. The baby would have to have things, starting tonight, and West didn’t know if he could pull this off alone. What if the kid got sick in the next few days before his mother came back? He’d need Annie’s help.
So, damn it all, the bet she’d offered might be the answer to all his immediate problems. Let her think what she wanted about Monday night. Teddy wasn’t going anywhere. He couldn’t afford to give her the baby any more than he could chance letting her loose tonight without Teddy.
“Okay,” he said. “You can stay.”
“You didn’t have a choice.”
He grinned. “Didn’t I? Try to remember, I’m bigger than you.”
“Bully.”
“You never let anyone get the last word, do you?”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “They teach us that in law school.”
Her eyes glinted with satisfaction.
West wished he felt as happy as she looked. Three days with Annie and a baby. He groaned inwardly, picturing the carefully maintained control he’d had over his life flying out of his hands and away on a flying carpet—no, make that on a large flying diaper, with a fat, laughing baby on the ground waving a magic wand, keeping it above West’s head, just out of his reach. Staring down at Teddy, he blinked away the image. Ridiculous. One lone six-month-old baby couldn’t possibly change his whole life.
He gazed up at Annie. Maybe not, but a grown woman could. He’d have to be on his guard—starting now.
3
Unable to convince Gallagher to let her watch Teddy while he went to the store for supplies, Annie had driven to the Shopette after he’d argued, successfully, that with no car seat, they couldn’t both go and take the baby. That would be putting Teddy in jeopardy—and, he’d said with that know-it-all smirk on his face, breaking the law.
“Of course you wouldn’t want to do that,” Annie said out loud, mocking only herself as she drove away from Marcia’s apartment building. The manager had said she’d gone on vacation—which was good, because it implied she’d be coming back. He did not, however, know where she’d gone.
Now Annie headed toward her own apartment to get some clothes. It was understood, at least she hoped, that she’d be staying at West’s house during this bet of theirs. She knew he’d let her back inside. She had the diapers and formula, and by the time she returned, he was bound to be desperate.
In a way, she was pleased she’d been the one to go, because the trip had given her the opportunity to speak with the clerks who worked with Marcia at the Shopette, a large supermarket halfway between her home and Gallagher’s. Telling them she was Marcia’s lawyer, Annie had learned Marcia had quit her job the day before, and no one knew what her plans were.
That, Annie guessed, put her one up on West Gallagher. Knowledge was power. She believed that so much she had also bought a how-to book on babies, just in case there was something she’d forgotten since she’d stopped baby-sitting her neighbors’ babies when she’d opened her law office. She was determined to care for Teddy to the extent that he would start smiling the second she walked into a room.
The One-Week Baby (Yours Truly) Page 3